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by on April 5, 2015

More Details on Project 4

This is the post for the Monday, April 6, 2015 class meeting.

risktakerToday we will go over additional resources and examples for the assignment.

Details on Project 4

There are three documents to consider today:

I will also talk about what class sessions will generally look like for the rest of the term.

In-Class Research and Homework

This week you need to read Chapter 3 and 4 of Writer/Designer and to be ready to talk about how the information applies to your remix. Here is a general overview:

  • Monday, 4/6: You will begin researching and planning for your project.
  • Wednesday, 4/8: You will continue gathering information and doing preliminary planning on your project. By the end of the class, you will write a blog post that gives me details on plans (more details below).
  • Friday, 4/10: You will give an informal pitch for your project (more details below).

In more specific detail, we will work on these tasks:

  1. Choose your story and do some preliminary research. Go online and find at least three different (and credible) versions of the story you will explore. Alternately, you can go to the library, bookstore, or elsewhere to gather your resources.

  2. Evaluate the credibility of your sources with the information on pp. 58–60 in Writer/Designer. Stories are told by many people and from many different perspectives. Your goal is to have plenty of source material to choose from as you create your new version. Think of the resources you locate as your inspiration, as the base from which your adaptation will begin.

    Your main source should be a text that relies primarily on the linguistic mode. Your additional choices can use other modes of communication. You may also choose more than three sources if you desire.

    Examples:

    • The person who did the Don Quixote animation choose the original novel by Cervantes, an art exhibition at Georgetown University in 2005, and a TV miniseries released in Spain about the first part of the book.
    • The person who did Little Red Riding Hood choose the original version of the story by Charles Perrault, a Disney cartoon, and the ABC TV show Once Upon a Time.
    • The person who did the Boston Tea Party video originally chose the Schoolhouse Rock BTP episode, PBS Kids show "Liberty’s Kids" BTP episode, and ushistory.org. She also used some Ken Burns documentaries to help her learn about her genre.

  3. By the end of Wednesday’s class, you should have written a blog post that informally proposes the story you will focus on for your remix, or in the language of Chapter 3 of Writer/Designer, “the what” you will focus on. Include the following information:

    • Tell us the story you have chosen.
    • Explain what portion of the story, if relevant.
    • Identify what genre you want to use for the project.
    • Give us the bibliographic citations and/or links to at least three sources that you will use as you work on your project. You can use any bibliographic format you like, but be sure there’s enough information for me to confirm the sources.

  4. On Friday, April 10, you will pitch your ideas in class, in short 2-minute max explanations, following the list of questions on p. 56 of Writer/Designer.

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by on April 2, 2015

Exploring Remix Examples

This is the post for the Friday, April 3, 2015 class meeting.

earinfectionClass will work online. I have an ear infection, and the doctor said to stay home. For today’s class, I will provide a link to the remix assignment and to several examples.

Overview of Project 4

To begin, please read all of the Project 4 assignment page. I will add dates and firm up some of the instructions next week. I will also talk about how the project is graded next week.

Sample Projects

Review these example Remix Projects, which students completed in previous classes:

  1. The Three Little Scholars Broadcast
  2. Chamber of PostSecrets
  3. Rapunzel
  4. Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
  5. ‘Same Love’ by Macklemore as told through The Gay Rights Movement – final edit
  6. What Happened to Little Red Riding Hood?
  7. The Once Upon a Times
  8. Beauty and the Beast
  9. Boston Tea Party
  10. Don Quixote and the Giants
  11. The Hunger Games, Time Magazine Edition
  12. Around the World in 80 Days

Today’s Blog Post

For your blog post, I want you to respond to the assignment and the examples that you reviewed. Please answer these questions. You can use each question as a heading in your post:

  1. What makes a good remix
    Based on the assignment and the examples, list some characteristics that make for strong projects. Focus on how the story is rethought, or remixed.

  2. What makes a good digital story
    Look at the 12 examples and talk about which one you felt did the best job of digitizing an existing story. Support your opinion with some details from the examples and/or some comparisons to other examples. Focus on the technology behind the story.

  3. Stories I am considering
    Brainstorm a list of 3 to 5 stories you might focus on, and say a little bit about why you are considering them. If you feel that you already know exactly what you want to focus on, you can talk about your choice. (My goal here is to help you start focusing on your project’s topic).

Schedule

  • For Monday, 4/6:
    • We will draw some conclusions about the example projects, based on your observations. We will go over dates and talk about grading as well.
  • For Wednesday, 4/8:
    • We will briefly review some tools you can use for your projects, and I will ask you to summarize your research to date.
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